Israel’s expanding network of checkpoints is UNLAWFUL and must be dismantled immediately. Part of the carceral geography of apartheid, it makes Palestiniams' daily life fully dependent on arbitrariness. Thank you @WIRED for exposing this viciousnes: "Lost time. Lost jobs. Lost friends. Lost family. Lost lives. How Israeli checkpoints suffocate Palestinian life in the occupied West Bank. CHOKE POINTS "

https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/2107786279320482146 

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt

@FranceskAlbs

 

Israel’s expanding network of checkpoints is UNLAWFUL and must be dismantled immediately. 

Part of the carceral geography of apartheid, it makes Palestiniams' daily life fully dependent on arbitrariness.  

Thank you @WIRED for exposing this viciousness:  https://www.wired.com/story/how-israeli-checkpoints-choke-palestinian-life-occupied-west-bank/

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Lost time. Lost jobs. Lost friends. Lost family.

Lost lives.

How Israeli checkpoints suffocate Palestinian life in the occupied West Bank.

CHOKE POINTS  

The Big Story

Sep 30, 2026 6:00 AM

Aref Jaber is on a neighbor's roof, trying to get home.

At 51, he is clambering over a wall into the next backyard, up onto the next roof, along the line of stone houses that stand between him and his own front door. He has no choice. Alleys and side streets in his neighborhood have been sealed with cement blocks and barbed wire, and a single point of access, called Checkpoint 160, is the only way in or out for the 140 families who live there.

But Checkpoint 160 is closed again; Jaber is not sure why. The whim of a soldier, a crash in the scanning system, breaking news in the region—it could be anything.

For the last three years, he says, this has happened at least two days a week. So the community has devised a system of alternative routes. Jaber calls his neighbors to ask if he can come through. They check their windows for soldiers, and then Jaber scales ladders and traverses roofs. “When I finally get home,” he says, “it feels like I’ve achieved something monumental.”

The enclosure of Jaber’s neighborhood is a dense microcosm of what life is becoming across the occupied West Bank—for Palestinians, that is. At the same time that deadly Israeli settler violence robs communities in the West Bank of their land, and amid the genocide in Gaza, Israel has expanded its infrastructures of military control and domination... READ MORE  https://www.wired.com/story/how-israeli-checkpoints-choke-palestinian-life-occupied-west-bank/

"Israel has invented new ways to violate international law, further entrenching its unlawful occupation and apartheid and while totally disregarding its obligations as an occupying power towards Palestinian civilians. Israel instead has deliberately and consistently advanced its aggressive annexation agenda, with total impunity in blatant violation of international law, which categorically prohibits annexation, settling civilians from the occupying power in the occupied territory, displacing or removing protected persons and unlawfully seizing property in the occupied territory:"

Amnesty International

@amnesty

 

Israeli authorities have unleashed a series of unlawful measures such as land registration, that are deliberately designed to dispossess Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and to make the annexation of the territory an irreversible reality. 

 

These decisions clear the path for further takeover of Palestinian land, authorize a record number of new settlements, expand existing ones, and formalize registration of land in the West Bank as Israeli state property effectively enabling Israel’s land grabs. 

 

Israel has invented new ways to violate international law, further entrenching its unlawful occupation and apartheid and while totally disregarding its obligations as an occupying power towards Palestinian civilians. Israel instead has deliberately and consistently advanced its aggressive annexation agenda, with total impunity in blatant violation of international law, which categorically prohibits annexation, settling civilians from the occupying power in the occupied territory, displacing or removing protected persons and unlawfully seizing property in the occupied territory: https://amn.st/6010hsanw

 

 https://x.com/amnesty/status/2027035929890730066

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(Photo by Mosab Shawer /AFP via Getty Images)

26 February 2026

Also available in Español,العربية

Israel/OPT: Global impunity fueling Israel’s unlawful annexation measures in the West Bank

Since December 2025, Israeli authorities have unleashed a series of unlawful measures deliberately designed to dispossess Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and to make the annexation of the territory an irreversible reality, Amnesty International said today.   

These decisions represent an unprecedented escalation – in scale and speed – in Israel’s project to expand illegal settlements. They facilitate the takeover of more Palestinian land, authorize a record number of new settlements, expanding existing ones, and formalize registration of land in the West Bank as Israeli state property. While successive Israeli governments have pursued policies aimed at expanding settlements and entrenching occupation and apartheid, the latest measures underscore how the current Israeli government has turbocharged these efforts, in the shadow of the genocide in Gaza.   

“What we are witnessing is a state, led by a Prime Minister wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, openly gloating about its defiance of international law... READ MORE   https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/02/israel-opt-global-impunity-fueling-israels-unlawful-annexation-measures-in-the-west-bank/

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Israel imposes permits for Palestinians to access their own West Bank villages: Residents of three Palestinian communities now need Israeli-issued permits to access their own homes, fuelling fears of creeping annexation

An Israeli soldier stops a Palestinian driver during a raid at the entrance to the Old City of Nablus in the West Bank, 17 September 2025 (Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images via Reuters)

By Fayha Shalash in Ramallah, occupied Palestine

Published date: 20 September 2025

Israeli forces have introduced new restrictions requiring Palestinian residents of three occupied West Bank communities to obtain permits to enter their own areas.

The permits, which label the holder as authorised to enter “Israel”, suggest the three communities - located northwest of occupied East Jerusalem - are being treated as part of Israeli territory.

Residents fear the move signals a step towards the de facto annexation of the areas amid ongoing Israeli efforts to assert control over parts of the West Bank.

The affected communities - the villages of Beit Iksa and Nabi Samuil, along with the Khalayleh neighbourhood - have long been subjected to severe Israeli restrictions. 

They are surrounded by the Israeli separation wall on one side and military checkpoints on the other.

Under the new system, permits are limited to specific locations and purposes, placing significant constraints on residents' freedom of movement.

Nawal Barakat, a resident of Nabi Samuil, told Middle East Eye that Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories had contacted local families, instructing them to visit the Coordination and Liaison Office in al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, to collect the new permits.

She noted that residents had not applied for the permits, which were issued without their consent. 

The cards were orange in colour, indicating they were designated for a specific purpose and not valid for unrestricted entry into Israel.

“We still don't know how far this permit will go,” she said.

“Will we be treated as Israelis, even though we hold Palestinian ID cards? Or will we carry the permits and be confined to our village, isolated from the rest of the world?”

Nabi Samuil has a population of around 350 people, following years of Israeli policies that have steadily displaced residents and forced many to relocate abroad.

The village spans around 3,500 dunams (350 hectares) of land, but only 1,050 remain accessible to residents after Israeli authorities seized the majority under the pretext of archaeological preservation.

“There are no basic services in the village: no schools, no clinics, no institutions - not even a grocery shop,” Barakat said. “We’re forced to travel to neighbouring towns just to buy something as simple as bread.”

Palestinians are also barred from constructing new buildings in the village. 

Young couples are unable to build or renovate homes due to Israeli restrictions imposed under the designation of the area as a nature reserve, pushing them to live outside the village. 

‘Isolated from everything’

Murad Zayed, Mayor of Beit Iksa, told MEE that residents of the affected communities were notified earlier this month of Israel’s intention to annex the areas and that the distribution of new ID cards had begun.

However, residents of Beit Iksa have yet to receive these cards.

Zayed explained that even before the latest measures, life in Beit Iksa was tightly controlled.

Since 2006, the town has been sealed off by an Israeli military barrier and residents have been subject to prior coordination for nearly every aspect of daily life, including entering and leaving the town.... READ MORE   https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-imposes-permits-palestinians-access-their-own-west-bank-villages

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3 Maps: Gaza Strip Blockade before Oct. 7, 2023 + Permanently Staffed Israeli Checkpoints and Crossings in the West Bank by 2010 + In 2002, Israel started constructing a land grabbing Apartheid wall, slicing through Palestinian communities, agricultural fields, and farmland

Gaza Strip Blockade before Oct. 7, 2023- Four days after Hamas' assault on Israel, the army has tightened its 2007 blockade into a 'complete siege' of the Gaza enclave.

 

The West Bank PALESTINE has been illegally occupied [& strangled] by Israel since 1967

Permanently Staffed Israeli Checkpoints and Crossings in the West Bank

Permanently Staffed Israeli Checkpoints and Crossings in the West Bank  OCHA map (As of May 2010) https://www.un.org/unispal/permanently-staffed-israeli-checkpoints-and-crossings-in-the-west-bank-ocha-map-as-of-may-2010/

About 85 percent of the Israeli built APARTHEID WALL falls within the West Bank rather than running along the internationally recognized 1967 boundary, known as the Green Line. [Al Jazeera]

Palestinian farmers harvest their olives in the southern West Bank village of the monastery of Samet, near the Israeli separation wall in Hebron.  

When Pope Francis stopped, touched the wall, and said a prayer, it was truly a monumental moment that made waves in world news. Pope Francis couldn’t help but notice the ugliness of this concrete structure at the heart of Bethlehem. This wall should make us all uncomfortable. To this discomfort, the Pope couldn’t help but react and reach out. By responding in this manner, the Pope touched more than the wall. He touched the ugliness of the occupation and war. He touched the depth of our suffering. With humility and weakness, he looked injustice in the eyes, and challenged it." The Other Side of the Wall by Pastor Munther Isaac

 

Pope Francis in Bethlehem, Palestine

Munther Isaac

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Palestinian, and Palestinian Christians in particular, have lost a dear friend today. Pope Francis was beloved in Palestine. He conveyed true compassion to Palestinians, most notably to those in Gaza during this genocide. His pastoral heart was evident in his insistence on calling the Christian community besieged in Gaza on a constant basis, even from his hospital.

Some years ago, Pope Francis visited Bethlehem. We all remember the iconic image of him praying at the Wall. This is what I wrote about this incident in my book “The Other Side of the Wall”.

When Pope Francis stopped, touched the wall, and said a prayer, it was truly a monumental moment that made waves in world news. Pope Francis couldn’t help but notice the ugliness of this concrete structure at the heart of Bethlehem. This wall should make us all uncomfortable. To this discomfort, the Pope couldn’t help but react and reach out. By responding in this manner, the Pope touched more than the wall. He touched the ugliness of the occupation and war. He touched the depth of our suffering. With humility and weakness, he looked injustice in the eyes, and challenged it.

What did he say in his prayer? The truth is, I don’t want to know. Some words are better left unspoken. The image of him standing next to the wall and praying will forever be engraved in our memories. For me, this image went everywhere. On my office wall, Facebook page, desktop wallpaper. For us as Palestinian Christians, this image was stored deep into our memory. And when this wall falls one day (not if, when), we might go back to this moment and this prayer as one of the key moments that led to its fall.

At the end of the day, the Pope left, and the occupation and the wall remained. But we were left with a renewed sense of hope—knowing that we are not forgotten. We were left with a mandate to continue lamenting the current situation, to fight against injustice . . . and to pray. (The Other Side of the Wall, pp. 182-183)

The Pope left our world today, and the occupation and the wall remained. Even worse, he left our world while a genocide continues to unfold. Back in November he wrote: “I am thinking above all of those who leave Gaza in the midst of the famine that has struck their Palestinian brothers and sisters given the difficulty of getting food and aid into their territory… According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies.”

Today I wonder: Will the millions who will mourn his death these coming days respect this wish of his? Will they care for Gazans and Palestinians the way he did?

May his soul rest in glory with his Savior. Humanity lost a special soul today.

‘They lock us in like sheep’: new Israeli checkpoints and barriers raise fears in the West Bank. Israel’s growing network of roadblocks are cutting off communities from major transport routes, disrupting work, education and aid supplies

Palestinians living in the West Bank passing through the Qalandiya military checkpoint separating Ramallah and Jerusalem for the first Friday prayer of Ramadan. Photograph: Issam Rimawi/Anadolu/Getty Images

Jason Burke and Sufian Taha, in the occupied West Bank

Sat 15 Mar 2025 12.09 EDT

The road to Atara from Ramallah winds through the hills and valleys of the occupied W est Bank. To drive the nine miles to the village from the de facto capital of the Palestinian Authority should take about half an hour, despite the potholes and traffic.

These days, the taxi drivers waiting for fares on Radio Street in the north of the city shrug when asked when they will arrive at their destination.

“Thirty minutes, one hour, half a day, it all depends on the checkpoints. If I could tell you, I would … but no one knows,” said Ahmed Barghouti, 50, a driver for over 20 years.

Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza in January, life for the 2.9 million Palestinians in the West Bank has not become easier. Israel immediately launched a bloody major offensive in the north that has so far forced at least 40,000 people from their homes, the largest displacement since Israel’s occupation began in 1967, and killed dozens, including children.

At the same time, Israeli authorities have been constructing new checkpoints and barriers. According to the Palestinian Authority, at least 119 “iron gates” have been set up since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, including many since January. These block access to villages and towns, cutting off entire communities from major transport routes.

There are now close to 900 barriers in the West Bank, the PA said. The UN has recorded more than 800, a steep increase on the 645 in 2023.

Palestinian officials say this “localised system” of roadblocks is a change from a strategy merely to cut the West Bank into north, south and central sections. “It no longer controls movement alone, but also … access to ­agricultural land, social and livelihood opportunities, health, education and the economy, among other things,” Amir Daoud, of the Authority’s Colonisation and Wall Resistance Committee, told the Observer.

A survey last month of NGOs working in the West Bank found that 93% said roadblocks, permit denials and checkpoint delays hindered aid delivery... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/15/israeli-checkpoints-barriers-raise-fears-in-the-west-bank

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This olive tree is situated on the Hebron Road just outside Bethlehem. It marks a contrast with the brutal and life-restricting Wall of Separation behind it, which fences in the Palestinian people.

Advent Calendar Day 7

 

The olive tree is a significant symbol of Palestine. The tree has been grown and olives harvested here for thousands of years. They are long-living and tough, surviving all weather conditions; they produce oil which is essential for the Palestinian cuisine. 

 

This olive tree is situated on the Hebron Road just outside Bethlehem. It marks a contrast with the brutal and life-restricting Wall of Separation behind it, which fences in the Palestinian people. Despite their oppression they survive, like the olive tree. This tree has seen it all and still it stands as a witness. 

 

“One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.' “But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’” Judges 8:8-9

  photos from

St.George's College Jerusalem